To think that no racist ever admits they are a racist

Yes, if you vote for Reform/Conservatives. If you vote Greens/Labour/LibDem then you're just 'misunderstood'. 😁

If people carry on "making mistakes" without taking the trouble to educate themselves, then it absolutely is racism.

We can't just allow people to perpetually hide behind the excuse that they didn't mean it.

This seems to be the favoured argument amongst racists these days.

We're only racists because you made us racist by calling us racist.

And we're only voting for a far right party because you described us as far right or racist etc.

The complete lack of logic leads me to conclude that they must just be a little bit hard of thinking.

I get what you’re saying. I think it’s ignorance more than a decision to take against a particular race creed or religion when a person doesn’t understand why they are racist.

Racism Is entirely about intent, always will be. Anything else is about attention and making everything about you.

Nobody is special, you don't have a device right for others to not be mistaken/make mistakes and that mistake impact you in any way including about race. And if that happens, it isn't racism it is normal every day life and people learning and interacting with the world.

My 40 year old stepdaughter thinks describing a black person as black is being racist. I think she’s being ridiculous.

Isnt it funny how people are terrified to be seen discriminating against other races but not of discriminating against single moms in their own country. The same fear factor doesn't exist. Just noticing. Neither is ok IMO

I'm not American so not in a position to comment on what's going on there. Here in the UK, decent young men are not turning into racists because people challenge racism.

It's so depressing.

This is why we have to move away from the stance expressed by a pp that it isn't racist if the speaker doesn't intend it to be racist.

The people you describe in your post probably didn't "intend" to be racist and probably wouldn't identify as being racist, but they are horribly racist nonetheless.

I met a man once who was very open about it. It was in a work capacity, he’d been arrested for sexual assault (wrongly to be fair, mistaken identity) and I met with shortly after he’d been released with no charges - he quite jovially said ‘I’m a racist not a rapist!’

I think youre a racist. ( not you, obviously! )

I think if you behave in a racist way and say racist things then you're a racist.

I was really interested to hear what everyone thought about it.

Meanings change though. There’s nothing inherently wrong with the sentiment “Make America Great Again”. Now it’s a short cut for being the worse sort of Republican.

Being racist used to mean being offensive or discriminatory to people who were black and brown. Now it’s a catch all term to describe anything that differentiates people by skin or culture or country. The post about the countryside is spot on.

“The whole crux of racism is they genuinely think that other races are inferior. That there are legitimate reasons why they feel that way.”

I 100% agree with this.

In all the racist encounters I have ever had, then people genuinely believe that I am inferior or less capable, purely because of my skin. That is what they actually think - that my race is inferior.

Ergo you get comments like:

I never expected you to be able to swim.

You speak so well for a Black person.

And my favourite:

You are ok, you are the right kind of black. You’re not like the others.

So they are upgrading my inferiority from baseline of “black people are xxxx (insert word of choice for racists) but you are a little less xxxxx than the others.”

I would say that a man who wants to control women is sexist not racist. If he despises other men who don't want to control women in the same way he is demonstrating toxic masculinity.

No, you’re ignorant and lacking in self awareness

Course not. Just like a bully never admits they are a bully. They believe that whatever they are doing is justified

What absolute nonsense. You're actually suggesting that decent young men have turned into racists because people have called racist young men who are not them, racist? Should we stop criticising MVAWG in case it turns decent young men into violent misogynists?

This is why people no longer worry about being called a racist. The kids at my school
make it into a joke. I told one child he had to wait for something, him and his friend jokingly called me a racist. This is year 6.

Should I have pulled him up on it? Im white he’s black. Apparently I don’t have an opinion on it.

Forgot to add, I laughed. It was quite funny.

I don't agree. If you are unwilling to reflect on your own behaviour and learn why you have offended someone, then you are part of the problem.

Why do you think your assessment of whether or not the offence taken is reasonable is the only correct one?

I agree, about if we choose to perpetuate it.

I also think structural racism NEEDS to be taught in schools, because its a complex thing to realise that you are an unwitting product of your environment. And I think we live in such a media saturated environment and we're increasingly exposed to so much. I think its a leap to go from 'I don't feel hatred in my heart so I'm not a racist' to 'society is inherently racist and I'm a part of it so I need to think this through really carefully'... I don't think everyone has the luxury of time or motivation to think about this so it needs to be taught.

And social media etc is doing the absolute devil's work as far as this stuff is concerned. And yes I realise I'm on social media lamenting social media. 😬

I think it's very rare that racist people actually admit that they are racist.

I was watching a news item a few months ago about a "whites only" community in the USA which had been established by taking advantage of some sort of legal loophole - can't remember exactly what. The residents were interviewed and they insisted that they were not racist. I'm not sure if they had actually managed to convince themselves that they weren't, or if they were just saying it because they didn't think they could admit to it, but it was a very curious thing to watch.

Actually it definitely does matter. I have zero control over how someone reacts. A person can only be racist if they intend to be racist. Other people taking unreasonable offence is beyond my control!

No feeling of superiority here whatsoever.
Infact I usually despise the sort of person who corrects grammar.
I suppose I'm just so fed up with openly racist people hiding behind immigration issues that I resorted to belittling them.
I don't actually like that I did that, it felt a bit like eating a dirty McDonald's tbh.
I am in lots of pain after a horrible ski accident and have a horrible racist misogynistic neighbour who is really really getting to me.
I am so fed up with the lack of compassion lots of people can have and how easy they find it to blame immigration for everything.
I shouldn't have done it, but it comes from a place of frustration rather than superiority.
I say all this as someone who has concerns about immigration and the sort of people who come here un vetted. I just don't think this justifies racism.

Father ' I hear you're a racist'
Where does the church stand on the old racism.
Father Ted.

Because the word racist has lost meaning and people are labelled as such for not being racist all the time. Not hard to work out.

I was literally called racist once because someone found out I voted Tory in a recent election. No other context needed apparently.